Hookah intoxication | Anxiety going through the roof

[AliasEQ]

Hey guys,

4 hours ago, I was at this place my friend took me to, where they serve you hookah and all kinds of smoking things there's out there. However, we sat 5 hours smoking that thing and I regret it as hell right now.

I have the worst headache ever, nausea and my hypochondria is climbing out of its cave. After reading this sh*t: http://www.vice.com/read/is-hookah-sickness-just-carbon-monoxide-poisoning-992 , it's hard to not worry.

Also, I'm not feeling entirely normal. I'm still feeling that buzz from the Hookah. That along with the hypochondria = derealization. How happy I am right now. Reminds me of the first time I smoked weed. Such a fun experience. Or not.

I'm going to see my doc the first thing in the morning if this is not over. But for now I can't do anything. I'm just going to sit, drink alot of water, chill and say f*ck it.

I don't know why, but it seems like problems are always hunting me. A week ago, it was nightmares and sleep paralysis. The month before that it was my addiction. And now, it's this sh*t. UGHHHHHHHH WHY LIFE WHY?!?!

Any advice on what to do except for drinking a sh*t ton of water?

[Nowuccas]

Hey AliasEQ,

To help prevent nausea and vomiting: boil a tablespoonful of grated ginger root in a pint/650mls water; cool and add honey and freshly squeezed lemon juice; sip slowly. Rinse your mouth with water after sipping. Keeping some with you may provide a degree of reassurance. Discard unused mixture after 3 days. Can be refrigerated for several days, or can be frozen, in batches, for longer term storage. Google: "nausea and vomiting; ginger"

Options:
Anti-Nausea Ginger Gum 24 Count by Sea-Band
Nature's Way Ginger Root, 550 mg, 100 Capsules by Nature's Way
Prince Of Peace Instant Ginger Honey Crystals (1x10 BAG) by Prince Of Peace
The Ginger People Gin Gins Ginger Hard Candy 3 oz candy by The Ginger People
from amazon.com.

I'm informed that ibuprofen is more effective than acetaminophen for headaches.

Depersonalization / derealization; see http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showthread.php?33833-Fear-of-driving-alone-help&p=223381#post223381

Hypochondria; http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showthread.php?33806-BAD-Health-anxiety-Have-afew-questions

Anxiety; http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showthread.php?33964-New-to-the-site-and-looking-for-help&p=223989#post223989

A previous post follows: Remember the troubling nightmare in as much detail as you can. Create a scenario in which you manage to prevail. "Tonight, in my dreams, I want to confront the ???/call on a dream ally for help". Write down your chosen form on a piece of paper, at least 3 times, and repeat 3 times aloud, after lights out, and visualise yourself doing it, as vividly as you can, and WANT TO DO IT!!!, with all the desire you can muster, to better communicate this concept to your subconscious mind, through imagery & emotional intensity, so it understands that this is important. Place the piece of paper under your pillow (metaphorically "sleeping on it"). Your subconscious existed before you could walk, or talk. It knows images, muscles/movement, and emotions: communicate with it in terms it can understand. It doesn't understand negatives, and everything is in the present tense to it; there is no past or future. When dreaming, try calling for assistance from a dream character - anyone, alive or long since passed on, even your favorite superhero is available to provide assistance, in the dreamstate. You can even try the technique of "dream re-entry", and use your new solution in that exact same situation. Try the above for 2 - 3 weeks; I believe there is a good chance they will work. Options, for later: Hypnosis is merely a heightened state of suggestibility, in which you are better able to communicate with your subconscious mind.

85% of people are suggestible, to some degree, so you could either seek professional hypnotherapy, or more alternatives along such lines are on page O at your-mental-health.8m.com, below where this came from. My experience, however, is that the subconscious mind will re-manifest them in a different form, until what it sees as the problem is satisfactorily dealt with. In dream analysis, we are taught that each character inhabiting a dream represents some part of us. It is an axiom that the sole judge of the interpretation of any dream/nightmare is the person who dreamt it. If the nightmare doesn't respond to the above, after a few weeks of trying that technique every night; then it is time to look deeper for the cause. You may benefit from looking at your normal waking life.

What problems, and decisions are there? Is there something you have been avoiding, or putting off? Your subconscious mind is trying to get you to focus on something which it considers is important, and resolve it. You could try asking for an answer in your dreams, as per the previous answer, writing it down 3 times, repeating to yourself in bed, after lights out, and focusing on wanting the answer. "Tonight, in my dreams, I want to remember what the figure is trying to tell me". This method, if it works, should do so in a week, or two. If not, hypnotictapes.com has one titled "dream the answer", but professional hypnotherapy is always much preferable. Many nightmares result from anxiety, so I suggest that learning to deal effectively with the anxiety in your normal waking life may well have a carryover effect into the realm of dreams. http://sfhelp.org/gwc/wounds.htm may be worth checking out, as well. I have noticed that, since I began using 100mg of 5-htp daily for anxiety, my dreams have become considerably less unpleasant(if you decide to try it, begin with 50 mg, and if no adverse reaction, increase slowly to 100, 150, or 200 mg. I regard 300 mg as the maximum safe dosage, but would advise seeking medical advice beforehand. Avoid protein intake 2 hrs before, until 2 hrs after, or take with a very low protein meal or snack, to maximise the amount crossing the blood / brain barrier).

Eating some things, like large, hot, heavy, or spicy meals late at night, results in nightmares for some people, so be aware of this, and if you experience a nightmare, ask yourself what was it that you ate beforehand, and avoid such "nightmare triggers" in future, unless consumed early in the evening, or before. Avoid coffee/caffeine products within 6 hrs of bedtime; a list is on page F, at weebly.com, below. If you go to http://www.mercola.com and type "EFT" (and EFT therapists) in the taskbar provided, there is an affirmation on nightmares, and this technique is well worth trying, before paying for remedies or professional therapy, and if you give it a good try, but find it ineffective, the alternatives are still there for you to try. www.tapping.com has 13 free videos on it; also www.emofree.com. Read: Banishing Night Terrors And Nightmares: A Breakthrough Program to Heal the Traumas That Shatter Peaceful Sleep by Christopher Raoul Carranza and Jane Rogers Dill, from your bookstore, or Amazon.com More on hypnosis for nightmares is at http://your-mental-health.weebly.com/o.html and effective natural treatments for anxiety are shown on pages 1, and i. If stressed, see page M. More about dream analysis is on page O. View http://www.dreammoods.com/dreaminformation/dreamtheory/perls.htm

From RW Possum: "There is a simple but effective method of overcoming recurrent nightmares. It's been tested with PTSD victims. This could be the most effective self help method for a psychological problem. It's called imagery rehearsal. You take things from the nightmare and use them to write a different version that has a happy ending. Then you "rehearse" the dream in your imagination while you're in a relaxed state, over and over. Common relaxation methods are slow, deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation (see PMR in Wikipedia)."


"Sleep paralysis is caused when hormones produced by the body to help you sleep do not wear off as you wake up.

This means that you remain temporarily paralysed but conscious.

The paralysis is thought to occur to prevent you acting out the actions in your dreams". - http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Sleep-paralysis/Pages/Causes.aspx

My opinion on how it came to be: Many millions of years ago, our common ancestors were tree dwellers. Those of them which moved around in their sleep at night had a much greater chance of falling and killing or injuring themselves, or being attacked by larger predators, which could not reach the higher and thinner branches.

In some of those ancestral forms, however, a form of paralysis of the voluntary muscles evolved, and was positively selected for, evolutionarily, as it conferred a survival advantage, which has been passed down the generations to modern humans, where it is no longer functional.

The best advice I can give is to understand that, although your mind may be fully functioning, after passing the hypnopompic state between sleep and wakefulness, muscular control will take a while longer to return. Realise that you are safe; Perhaps use this time to plan your day's activities, or what to do on your next weekend, vacation, leave, or holiday.

Read: Sleep Paralysis: A Guide to Hypnagogic Visions and Visitors of the Night by Ryan Hurd, &
Sleep Paralysis: Night-mares, Nocebos, and the Mind-Body Connection (Studies in Medical Anthropology) by Shelley R. Adler, & Sleep Disorders For Dummies by Max Hirshkowitz, Patricia B. Smith and William C. Dement, from your bookstore, or amazon.com
View: http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/sleep-paralysis & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis
Try moving your eyes from left to right, and up and down, then modify your breathing. Then try to wiggle toes and fingers.

Things you can try to help reduce, or prevent them: 1) Adopt a regular sleep schedule. 2) Sleep on your side.

For ways to cope with sleep paralysis, see: http://www.wikihow.com/Cope-with-Sleep-Paralysis Also view http://www.lauriloewenberg.com/rem-cat-experiment-1304

"Tips for improving your sleeping habits include:
creating a restful sleeping environment that is quiet, dark and not too hot or cold
ensuring your bed is comfortable
exercising regularly (but not too close to bedtime)
cutting down on caffeine
not eating or drinking alcohol before bedtime
giving up smoking (if you smoke) because nicotine is a stimulant"
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Sleep-paralysis/Pages/Treatment.aspx Sometimes tricyclic antidepressants such as clomipramine are prescribed, but see drugs.com & mediguard.org about risks & side effects.

Hoping something in the above helps.

[Dahila]

Not taking hot shower before bed............you forgot about it. N. you post is awesome!

[AliasEQ]

Great post Nowuccas. Really essential information and great advice, I appreciate it alot.

I know how to deal with almost all of the symptoms I get from my anxiety usually. It's just harder to deal with them when there's something else going on with my body. Yesterday, I was very confused from the poisoning or whatever it was. I also had the worst headache, chills and nausea - the source was not the anxiety though. The anxiety was just adding up to it.

I'm fine now. I think I had a minor CO poisoning or some kind of nicotine poisoning. Either way, that's the last time I ever smoke hookah.

The sleep paralysis and the nightmares are gone now, thankfully. I've had sleep paralysis two times in my life. I don't get them too often. Both times, I've not had the ability to actually to choose what to think. My mind was functioning on it's own, I litterally could not choose what to think. Kind of like holding your breath for a period of time - your body will prioritize things for you and automatically it starts breathing, whether you want to or not. The same thing happend with my mind - both times I searched for help from a higher power.

The first time was more scary, as I didn't know anything about it. I felt someone come in to my room softly, gently and slowly lie on me for a couple of seconds, then went off and went out of my room. My whole body started to shudder the closer that presence came. Scary as hell. Second time, I could move my fingers and I could whisper. Didn't feel any presence, I just couldn't move.

Haha, so it's hard to plan my days activities. If it does happen again, I will try to not panic. I will try imagery rehearsal.

I take a hot shower before bed almost always. Why is that not good though? I find it very relaxing.

Anyways, thanks for help guys! Appreciate it a ton! :)

[Ponder]

Whilst my research into suggestion indicate differently to the stats given, I find the information regarding nausea invaluable. I've taken notes for myself.

Thanks for the run down again.

Some helpful information in amongst all of that.

Cheers.